Ascensia – DiabetesDad

NEWSBREAK: Animas Vibe Receives FDA Approval for Children Ages 2 to 17.

Posted on January 11, 2016 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

I received the following email from Bridget Kimmel, Senior Manager of Communications & Public Affairs for Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Companies Animas Corporation & Life Scan, Inc. I know people have been speaking about this device and I share with you what was sent to me without edit.

I’m pleased to share that FDA has approved the use of the Animas® Vibe® Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System for the management of diabetes in children and adolescents, ages 2 to 17.

The Animas® Vibe® System was the first integrated system with Dexcom G4® PLATINUM CGM technology and is the only such system available in the U.S. for pediatric patients as young as age 2.

As an integrated system, the Animas® Vibe® System allows patients and their caregivers to view glucose data and administer insulin right from the pump, making it easy to fine tune insulin delivery to help manage their diabetes. We know that effective glucose management early in life supports better health outcomes in adulthood; therefore, the Animas® Vibe® System is a great step forward in helping children and their caregivers in the U.S. take ownership of their diabetes.

Expanding the global presence of the Animas® Vibe® System, along with providing solutions for children with diabetes and their parents, has been a top priority for Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Companies (JJDCC). It’s been our goal as a company to not only develop the best treatment solutions available, but also ensure that every member of the diabetes community, including children, may access these tools.

For more details on the FDA approval, please view the press release we issued today here.

Orders for the Animas® Vibe® System are currently being accepted, with anticipated shipment to patients beginning this month. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me or give me a call at 215-688-6033.

I am a DiabetesDad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Are You a Basal-Tears, or a Bolus-Tears-Kind-of-Person; in Your Diabetes World???

Posted on January 7, 2016 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

I was engaged in a conversation yesterday with a good friend and we came up with the following question; ‘When it comes to diabetes, are your tears via a basal-tear rate, or a bolus-tear rate?”

When you think about everything that happens in our diabetes world, do you sort of cry a little bit many times or do you work to keep everything in moving forward and once in a while the tears just pour out as if your eyes are just bolusing-tears? A lot of little cries….or one big cry occurring when needed.

I’m absolutely amazed that no matter how positive-a-life I try to make sure our kids have, out of nowhere it seems…….bang; tears. So I’m definitively a bolus-tear-kind-of-guy.

I also know that it’s okay. It’s good to clear it out sometimes. A release. I know some people get sad every day, perhaps even cry a tear or two as well. They are a basal-tears-kind-of-person…..a little, many times. Clearly no one enjoys any of this, but also make sure you smile through those bolus/basal/tears every now and again as well.

Smile at an accomplishment, a joke, something ‘gone-good’. When they come, make sure you enjoy those things as well.

My mom tells me that it’s because of my heritage that I read the obituaries every day. It’s not a morbid thing (ever notice everyone dies in alphabetical order….except in Florida), I just check it as I read the news. I’m sure a professional would tell me that it ‘means’ something that I do, but to me, it’s just checking out what is happening in the world around me…..another page to the news, as it were; for me.

But here is my observation. Every single listing had a life. Whether they were good or bad, happy or sad, rich or poor, in perfect health or suffered forever; there they all and what they leave behind is just that…….left behind.

My point?

On this earth we all have just one shot to redo anything everyday. Think about that sentence. I will always choose to live this life and grab every ounce of enjoyment out of it as possible. For me, and for others. If we can all try to leave this world just a tad better for others as well as ourselves than how we found it; that’s a life worth living in my mind.

So I may be a bolus-tear-kind-of-guy when needed……but during all other times, I choose to be an ocean-full of grabbing this life for all the wonder, laughter, and good it does have to offer, even with diabetes. Come swim with me.

I am a DiabetesDad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

NEWSBREAK Report: T1D in Children Rising; and a Woman You NEED to follow “Closely”.

Posted on January 5, 2016 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

Kelly Close’s DiaTribe published a very interesting finding based on a recent study in Diabetes Care……it states (according to DiaTribe);
“……..more US children and adolescents have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in recent years: the disease’s annual prevalence in a large, insured population increased 53% between 2002 and 2013, from 1.48 to 2.33 cases per 1,000 people. The study used data from insurance companies to survey the rate of diabetes in ~10 million US children and adolescents younger than 18 years old, so it does not tell us how diagnoses of type 1 may be changing in adults. It is not clear why type 1 diagnoses are increasing so rapidly.”

Now if you look at those stats a little more closely, it used to be that 1.48 cases per 1,000 were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and the new study shows that it is now 2.33. Now in dealing with percentages, that means that almost an additional person per 1,000 cases is being diagnosed with T1D. THAT’s alarming.

You can read Kelly’s full assessment/article by clicking here.

Click the link and read her article; pay close attention to her conclusion. It will shake your cage and reinforce what many have stated for some time. And if you do not follow her, you should. Kelly has an incredible talent to call things as they are, usually with little sweetener (pun intended).

If you do not know Kelly, I can tell you that she is a shoot-from-the-hip kind of writer; and probably one of the most knowledgeable people on what is happening in our diabetes world. Little, if anything, gets by her and/or her team. She has taken her battle with diabetes (of over 25 years) and her desire to know every/any-thing she can, and after she ferociously learns for herself, she graciously shares with the world what she finds.

Kelly is also the same person who meets you with a warm smile (one of the biggest smiles I know) when you see her at one of the many conferences dealing with diabetes, taking place annually. It’s not ‘unusual’ to see her and/or members of her team running from one session to another to capture, for us, what is going on.

Diabetes. She writes about all aspects of diabetes. ALL. You may not agree with everything that is written, and truth be known, you shouldn’t. I have often felt that if you want to be amused, you read the comics; if you want to learn, read writers who challenge you to think and to learn for yourself. Writers should open a dialogue; and Kelly is the master.

So if you are always trying to figure out what is real and what is not; what are facts and what is rhetoric; what is the truth and what is mere fabrication….give yourself a New Year’s gift and follow Kelly’s DiaTribe more closely. In a few months you will feel more educated, and in the know, about what so many merely think they know.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

A Message for You!!!!

Posted on December 31, 2015 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

A really good friend wished me a happy New Year and stated that the hope was that all my wishes would come true in 2016.

Interesting concept.

I found myself asking if I had ‘all my desires’ as a bucketful of wishes or is my wish the same as it was on September 26th, 1992, and only to be doubled on March 20th, 2009. The same wish every time I blow out my birthday candles. The same wish anytime I wish upon a star. The same wish I have every time I break a wish bone. The same wish in my nightly prayers.

A cure, for my two children.

It’s a promise I gave my kids and it’s the foundation for everything I do. I’m deeply involved in this diabetes world. I wish I was not, but I am during almost every minute of every day in some shape or form. I’m energized by this diabetes world around us. And in as much as I believe in the efforts of the Diabetes Research Institute, being involved as I am, also allows me the privilege of seeing so many wonderful things out there which I see with an open mind with a drive to learn more.

I see what I see, through your eyes as well.

I thank you for that. You teach me so much. You have opened my eyes to so many worlds of research, initiatives, efforts, education, management tools and energy to make this diabetes world palatable that I, otherwise, would not have in my life. Your energy drives me. Your knowledge challenges me. Your passion humbles me.

Thank you for allowing me to share in your life. We are in this together and our one and only competition must always be; diabetes. To make a difference in this diabetes world and to just ‘not do nothing’.

I wish all of you the best 2016, and may it take you one step closer to whatever it is you seek in your life; for you, for your family, and for those you love.

Happy New Year!

Much love, respect, and admiration always,
Tom

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Tyson’s Family Shares a Story on Saving a Life……..Are you ANGRY ENOUGH…….to Help?

Posted on December 30, 2015 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

As this year ends, I am still driven by how far this year has taken us in the battle against missing the diagnosis of T1D and the diagnosis while in DKA. It’s a battle that can be won. And THAT battle is a series of wars in every state.

What can you do? I believe this battle can be fought on many fronts and with many, many, willing and eager participants. If I start to list them, I will miss some and I DO NOT want to do that, but know they are out there. They are out there advocating, spreading the word, and creating resources for others to use. The question remains and will always remain, what will YOU do about it?

Now to be clear, if your plate is full and you have the initiatives you find important in this diabetes battle have ‘filled’ your plate ; fine. Thank you for not doing nothing. But if you are still looking for something to do; you have many approaches from which to choose to help solve this problem. One approach is meeting with your legislator for possible action in the form of a law regarding this issue. There will be some more tools about this upcoming and there are many out there already. It’s a powerful means to try to make sure that no one else passes away from undiagnosed T1D ever again. It will take time, like it took us time in North Carolina. And it may only be a step, but any step is a good step to build upon.

Another approach is now. Right Now. There are many means to download posters and spread the word in any community. Others have shared theirs (if you have any, please share as a reply to this post on this page so all have the information from which to choose) and I have discussed many times what is available at www.getdiabetesright.org that Kim May (a dMom) and I have made available. But there can never be too many reminders

I have also shared a REALLY POWERFUL note that can be sent home from school nurses created by the National Association of School Nurses. This has been sent out to 33,000 people in their data base……but we can help. I wrote about it and you can read about it and download it here. Enlist school groups for community service. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, After-School service groups, Chamber of Commerce—-create an army to distribute the letters and/or posters which can be hung anywhere; and you can do it with little money (cost of poster to be copied), or have someone with a printer donate a hundred for you to distribute.

People are discussing many things on a larger scale from PSA’s to other initiatives; these are all good—-in fact they are better than good, they are GREAT. Many will take some time. But one person, can do something or start something now.

Tyson Irby recently lost his battle by not being diagnosed. I have been in touch with Tyson’s Family and this was shared with me last night;
We heard a story today of a mother, who heard Tyson’s story, that took her daughter in because she was going to the bathroom more than normal. Her sugar level was 600, and she is type one. Maybe Tyson’s story saved her life.

Maybe? I think not…..I think absolutely. Reegan’s family has shared the same stories. So has Kycie’s Family. The word WILL IMPACT. This is a one-story initiative. One tells two, tells four, tells eight, and on and on and on. While the BIG STUFF is all being worked on, let’s learn from Tyson’s Family , Reegan’s Family and others——GET THE WORD OUT THERE however it takes. While the BIG STUFF is being worded on, the poster seen, the letter from the nurses office received CAN AND WILL change a life.

Much has been done, much will be done, BUT MUCH CAN BE DONE NOW. Have you ever heard those commercials that end with a line that states something like, “…..someone’s life may depend on it” ? In this initiative, that statement is absolutely true.

Please, for the new year, just “Don’t do Nothing, someone’s life may depend on it.”

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Bye-Bye Bayer

Posted on December 29, 2015 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

Having two kids living with diabetes means I’m…..well the father of two children living with diabetes. As such, all sorts of things come to our house, mostly via the US Mail.

We received a notice the other day that stated;
Bayer AG (“Bayer”) is pleased to announce that it intends to sell its diabetes care business to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. (Panasonic). a company which is backed by funds……blah…..blah…..blah….blah.
Panasonic will operate the Diabetes Care Business under the new name of Ascensia Diabetes Care……
There is also a highlighted blue box that states our information will be given over to Ascensia……and also information where to find press releases and further information….blah….blah……blah.

The sale of the company was for 1.13 billion dollars according to a June Wall Street Journal report.

June—–either I am late to the party or this got by me somehow, but I just received the letter this week (and I know others have written about this already). Is this a good thing. Does Bayer still care about us? Will Panasonic? Does anyone? They are “pleased to announce……”…….are we?

I’m not a big fan of change, I also understand that Budweiser no longer owns Budweiser; meaning that I get that in the corporate world mergers and acquisitions are as natural as the sun rising and the sun setting. But I also know that when we entered the diabetes world, our lives became unglued. One would have thought that there was some consistency with the corporate world surrounding the so many who need care; medical care…….right?

But when so many things get tilted, changed and thrown around……whether Asante Snap closes their doors, certain insulins will no longer be made, or even Bayer will cease being……well Bayer…….does anyone else ask……where are we in the mix? We being the people who either have or have loved ones with this disease…….where are we?

We are set adrift to find what we need to find to stay alive…….and we will. I bet if we wanted something from a company…..and we all got together and said we will buy your product no more unless you listen……..they would take notice……….or not; they could easily just sell off that division so they did not have to hear anymore can’t they?

I think we should be, and need to be, more of a partner in this diabetes battle with diabetes companies and not merely ‘users of products’……..yes?

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.